What
do you say to the high school shot clock? We oppose the shot clock, taking the
position that it eliminates an element of strategy from the game.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (May 8, 2012) — At its April 16-18 meeting in Indianapolis, the
National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Basketball Rules
Committee considered a proposal to add a shot clock to the high school rules but
agreed that the sport played by about one million boys and girls in
approximately 18,000 high schools is functioning well without it. The committee
voted “no” to a shot clock, although states have the right to adopt one in
their own individual states.
Kent Summers, director of performing arts and sports at the NFHS. “In
addition, the committee believes that coaches should have the option of a
slower-paced game if they believe it makes their team more competitive in
specific situations.

Six states — California, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and
Washington —have the 35 second shot clock for both boys and girls basketball,
while Massachusetts (30 second clock) and Maryland have a shot clock for girls
basketball.Timeline
--November 22, 1950, theFort Wayne Pistons
defeated the Minneapolis Lakers
by a record-low score of 19-18. The Pistons held the ball for minutes at a time
without shooting (they attempted 13 shots for the game) in order to limit the
impact of the Lakers' dominant George Mikan.
The Piston’s strategy helped them overcome the odds to win.

--February 7, 1964, MMI defeated West
Hazleton 7-5
in what might be the lowest scoring game in
Pennsylvania high school basketball history. West Hazleton had scored
over 100 points six times that season and was undefeated at home over a two year
period. This upset game ended that home streak with the slowdown strategy. Ray
Saul writing for the Hazleton Standard-Speaker said "No one saw
Pearl Harbor coming in 1941 and in the Anthracite League no one saw a 7-5 slow
down coming in 1964.” We interviewed the MMI Coach Al Geodecke on January 27,
2004, forty years after the game. He remembered the game like it was yesterday.
He said that a lot of things had to fall into place to make his strategy work;
he remarked that "the rosary beads were clicking in our favor!"

--For the 1985-86 season, the NCAA introduced a 45-second shot clock for
the men's game, later reducing it to 35 seconds in the 1993-94 season.

Some say, “It’s likely to rush players into taking lower-percentage shots even
sooner than they do now.”
We say, don’t force the tempo, let all high school coaches and players have a
chance to win, permit the upset when possible. Allow for strategy! We say
“no” to the shot clock!